Kukla's Korner Hockey

Entries with the tag: nathan paetsch

If you’re looking for an update on Aunt Bessie’s cow, or information on last summer’s harvest, look on.

If, however, you’re looking for news and information on the top minor league affiliates of the NHL’s Southeast Division clubs, you’re in the right place.

In years past, I would run News from Norfolk as a regular feature on Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate and now, News from the Farm will feature the Charlotte Checkers, Chicago Wolves, Hershey Bears and Rochester Americans along with the Admirals, to follow the progress of the Southeast’s future stars at the AHL level (and, at least for now, Michael Nylander and Sheldon Souray too).

We’ll look at game results, standings, league and team-leading scorers and goaltenders, pick a player of the week, have a glance at the schedule ahead and keep you abreast of any other developments for these players and their clubs.

Thursday seemed as good a day as any for this weekly feature, so that’s where it will be slotted in to start (and this week, as the first installment, there’s plenty of AHL action to catch up on).

Futility in Sunrise has persisted for far too long, with the Florida Panthers on the brink of a dubious record after nine consecutive non-playoff seasons. Incoming general manager Dale Tallon has moved quickly in putting his stamp on the team with several transactions since taking over, but nothing to this point appears bold enough to turn his club from last season’s Southeast Division cellar dwellers into a postseason participant.

Sadly, more patience may be in order for long-suffering Panthers fans.

Even so, all is not lost for the NHL’s southernmost franchise, with several key pieces already in place for the future (and others right around the corner) and it isn’t as though the current roster is without talent as is. Still, a couple of major stumbling points remain for the Panthers. The 24 games they will play versus fellow Southeast clubs, three of whom look to be vastly improved and the fourth being the stalwart Washington Capitals, certainly won’t help and the expiring contracts for defenseman Bryan McCabe and goaltender Tomas Vokoun will have to be dealt with (and quite possibly dealt altogether), without either situation becoming a distraction.